THE robbery of é40 million from a security depot in Tonbridge is the biggest cash heist in British history.

It easily surpasses the é26.5 million stolen from Belfast's Northern Bank in December 2004, a robbery widely blamed on the IRA.

Four men, including 24-year-old bank employee Chris Ward, have so far been charged in connection with the Belfast robbery.

The Tonbridge robbery also dwarfs the é2,631,784 in banknotes taken by the Great Train Robbers in August 1963 - although allowing for inflation the cash would be worth about é40 million in today's money.

The men ambushed a train in Buckinghamshire and hit train driver Jack Mills over the head. Members of the gang were later caught and handed 30-year prison terms.

In November 1983, another gang stole 6,800 bars of gold from the Brink's-Mat high security bullion warehouse near Heathrow airport, west London.

Armed

The é26 million raid was carried out by six armed men posing as security guards, who escaped with three tonnes of gold after dousing a guard with petrol and threatening to set him ablaze if he did not open the vault.

In July 1987, raiders netted an estimated é30 million when they broke into a safety deposit centre opposite Harrods in Knightsbridge, London and cleared out the contents.

The world record for a mugging happened on the streets of London and stands at é292 million.

On May 2 1990, John Goddard was doing his daily courier round from Sheppard's money brokers when a mugger held him at knifepoint and grabbed his briefcase containing almost 300 bearer bonds.

Within hours every major bank had been warned not to accept the certificates.